Songs of Sorrow: Lucy McKim Garrison and Slave Songs of the United States
Product ID: 14289576
Desertcart purchases this item on your behalf and handles shipping, customs, and support to USA.
In the spring of 1862, Lucy McKim, the nineteen-year-old daughter of a Philadelphia abolitionist Quaker family, traveled with her father to the Sea Islands of South Carolina to aid him in his efforts to organize humanitarian aid for thousands of newly freed slaves. During her stay she heard the singing of the slaves in their churches, as they rowed their boats from island to island, and as they worked and played. Already a skilled musician, she determined to preserve as much of the music as she could, quickly writing down words and melodies, some of them only fleeting improvisations. Upon her return to Philadelphia, she began composing musical settings for the songs and in the fall of 1862 published the first serious musical arrangements of slave songs. She also wrote about the musical characteristics of slave songs, and published, in a leading musical journal of the time, the first article to discuss what she had witnessed.In "Songs of Sorrow" renowned music scholar Samuel Charters te Review: In her few yearfs,she accompalished great things. - A wonderful book about a fascinating young person. Her book, Slave Songs of the United States, co-edited with two other persons and published in 1867, is one of the great books about America. At age 19, in 1862, she accompanied her father who was sent as a missionary to help the newly liberated slaves of St. Helena Island in the South Carolina Sea Islands. Lucy, already a gifted pianist, transcribed slave songs directly from the singing of the liberated slaves. She harmonized them, along withsongs that had been collected by two other of the missionaries, and provided an invaluable text, after she returned to her home in Philadelphia. Virtually forgotten for decades, Slave Songs of the United States was rediscovered in the 1920s, and is currently in print. It contains the first printed version of songs such as Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore, The Lonesome Valley, Many Thousand Go, and Rock-a My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham. Wonderful Lucy died young, in her 30s.
| Best Sellers Rank | #2,156,490 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #305 in U.S. Civil War Women's History #579 in Ethnomusicology (Books) #3,143 in Black & African American History (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.0 out of 5 stars 2 Reviews |
R**H
In her few yearfs,she accompalished great things.
A wonderful book about a fascinating young person. Her book, Slave Songs of the United States, co-edited with two other persons and published in 1867, is one of the great books about America. At age 19, in 1862, she accompanied her father who was sent as a missionary to help the newly liberated slaves of St. Helena Island in the South Carolina Sea Islands. Lucy, already a gifted pianist, transcribed slave songs directly from the singing of the liberated slaves. She harmonized them, along withsongs that had been collected by two other of the missionaries, and provided an invaluable text, after she returned to her home in Philadelphia. Virtually forgotten for decades, Slave Songs of the United States was rediscovered in the 1920s, and is currently in print. It contains the first printed version of songs such as Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore, The Lonesome Valley, Many Thousand Go, and Rock-a My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham. Wonderful Lucy died young, in her 30s.
Trustpilot
2 weeks ago
3 weeks ago